New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1887-07-11

of the Territory, it would be possible to resist
the maintenance. and extension Of poiygamy
surprising that the subnissivcness Of the Mormons
proved cphemeral The presumption certainly is
that with tie State in Mormon hands, as 1t would
be of necessity, the campaign against plural
marriages would be far more difficult to carry on
than at present.
There are two statements of the situation. That
of the Mormons is to the effect that they at length
recognize the futility Of fighting the Federal
Government; that they are resolved to give up
the source Of contention, which il polygamy
that in order &c give evidence Of their change
OF mind they have drafted a constitution which
provides against polygamy, separates Church and
State, and assmilates Utah to the rest of the
Onion. This representation would be deserving
of more condenceif the quite recent utterances OF
leading Mormons did not SO counter to it. 1t
is remarkable to say the least, that this sudden
sacrifice of poygamy has been offered by con-
veDtion VIGOROUSLY controlled by that Mormon
Church which. for itself, has never yet given the
least indication of such purpose. There is
obviously ground for suspicion here, and it is
extended by consideration of the possible conse-
qucnces of the admission of Utah to the Union.
For IL IL only necessary 10 disbeleve the conversion
Of the Mormons to monogamy to perceive that the
new departure may well be neither more nor less
than bold and subtle piece of strategy, intended
to hoodwink the country and by which the
Mormon Church hopes and expects to obtain once
more control over Utah as absolute as it enjoyed
before the Pacific Railroad was built. And it must
be pointed out that past experience justifes a
hrmcr belief in Mormon cunning and dupicity
than in Mormon candor and loyalty.
2 Utah once admitted. with the Mormons q ruling
majority, how could the enactment Of any con-
stitutional provisions inmical to church doctrines
be guaranteed ? How could the Gentle minority
maintain any political standing? How could the
framing Of statutes to carry out the organic law
be excused? The Mormons would have the
Legislature and the executive and the Judiciary.
What under the circumstances could compel them
to keep faith with Congress and the country
Is it credible that they have become in moment
so anxious to extend their power solely to show
their willingness to abandon>a cause they have
contended for so desperately all these years? Is
it credible that the Mormon Church means what
the late convention says in regard to poHgamy
We do not think it is credible, but what can
easily be believed is that the Mormons find them
selves at the end of their tether that they realize
the impossibility OF contnuingto resist the United
States either actively or passiveE and that they
have adopted the new scheme as the sole recourse
left by which they may escape the pressure OF
FEDERAL law and regain the autonomy which they
abused when they possessed it, This appears to
be the most probable and reasonable explanation
of the convention 1t may do the Mormons less
than justice, but with the light available and in
view of past experience there is not much danger
in this direction.